American Indian tribes have more than access to national parks on the line with the government shutdown, as federal funding has been cut off for crucial services including foster care payments, nutrition programs and financial assistance for the needy. On southeast Montana's Crow Reservation, tribal leaders furloughed 316 workers Wednesday due to the shutdown and earlier federal budget cuts. Tribal programs including home health care for the elderly, bus service for rural areas and a major irrigation project were suspended indefinitely. Other tribes say they'll try to fill the funding gap themselves, risking deficits to cushion communities with chronic high unemployment and poverty against the effects of the budget battle in Washington, D.C. The Bureau of Indian Affairs says essential activities such as law enforcement, firefighting and some social services will continue.
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